Pre-Akagera Adventures

Dear All,

Thank you for following this blog. We had a very intense and powerful day today. In the morning we started our day at the Rebero Genocide Memorial where Hutu and other politicians who opposed the genocide are buried. As you may know the Hutu 'ethnic' group committed genocide against the Tutsi group in the 1990s. However, not all Hutus were spared; members of the so-called 'caretaker' government were, in fact, killed just before the 'Arusha Accords' were signed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front - whose military leader Paul Kagame is the current President of the country - and the government of the Hutu Juwenal Habyarimana, whose plane was shot down on return from Arusha. The caretaker government contained Hutus who were also killed. Among those buried was the President of the Constitutional Court of the country, and other MPs, a hotel owner, and a journalist. They are considered national heroes, and are buried with a number of other Rwandan citizens at Rebero.

We also heard two incredibly important lectures at the University of Rwanda, by a representative of the Rwanda Institute for Sustainable Development (RISD) and a Professor specializing in reconciliation. It was great to hear the extent to which civil society is involved in SD.

In the afternoon, we had lunch at Lakeside Fish Farm which is a farm that is quite self-sufficient. It harvests tilapia and catfish to be sold in markets and stores. The farm contains other farm animals such as cow, goats, pigs, poultry, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a fly-hatching area as well! :)

Finally, we made our way to Ntarama Memorial. This experience was short and intense; the memorial houses a church - and associated mass graves - where a number of Tutsi individuals sought refuge before being killed by the genocidaires. The church contained the clothes of the victims, skulls, bones, shoes, other personal items the victims brought to them to the church. It also included 'sippy cups' - this was incredible difficult to see, and process! We also saw the mass graves of some of the victims...in the words of a colleague, it was a very powerful experience!

Thank you again for reading. The pictures will be available on my FB and Instagram pages.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, I will not be able to connect as we will be staying at an Eco-Lodge prior to visiting Akagera National Park.

See you soon again

Laszlo